Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Ask the Industry Expert: Literary Agent Sara Keane

Today we're delighted to welcome literary agent Sara Keane, of the Keane Kataria Literary Agency. Sara has more than 25 years' experience in the publishing industry, in roles including editorial and rights in book, video, audiobook and magazine publishing. Sara is kindly giving up her time today to talk with Helena Fairfax.Welcome, Sara!

Please tell us a little about the Keane Kataria Literary Agency, how
long it’s been established, and how you became involved in setting it up.

Keane Kataria Literary Agency is a small, boutique agency based in Bath,
specialising mainly in women’s fiction, historical fiction and crime, and was
founded by myself and Kiran Kataria in 2014. We decided to pool our combined 50+
years of editorial and rights experience and set up our agency after the publisher
where we both worked as commissioning editors suddenly went bust. We have a
growing portfolio of authors, both debut and established, with whom we work
very closely on developing their manuscripts before submitting their work to
publishers. Our agency is now going from strength to strength, and we have had
particular success with commercial women’s fiction, negotiating multi-book
deals with UK and international publishers for our authors.

What
is it you are looking for when a manuscript lands on your desk? Are there any
specific plots or themes you’d like to see?

As a literary agent, I
am obviously looking for manuscripts I can sell to publishers, which means I very
much have the requirements of commissioning editors in mind. The most important
consideration is whether I absolutely love
a manuscript and really believe in it, as whenever I submit a manuscript to a
publisher I am putting my own reputation on the line. So it is the combination
of a strong commercial hook, quality writing and my personal response as I read
that makes a manuscript stand out. Specifically, commercial women’s fiction,
sagas, dual narrative, psychological thrillers and contemporary crime are what
we are looking for at present.

Do
you ever find authors outside the slush pile? If so, how?

The slush pile is
fundamental and we do find many of our authors that way, but I have also been
fortunate enough to find some fantastic authors outside the slush pile. Some through
personal recommendation, others we meet at publishing events. Possibly the most
unexpected was when I was put in touch with an author by a lady I got chatting
to in the changing rooms at my health club. That’s what’s so great about being
an agent: you never know exactly when and how the next wonderful author is
going to magically appear in your life.

What
advice would you give someone submitting to you?

Spend a long time
editing your manuscript and be ruthless! Get feedback from other writers, or
even from a professional editor. Submissions from authors who have received
mentoring on the RNA New Writers’ Scheme would really stand out. Know the
market you are writing for and where your book would fit into that market. Please
read and follow our submission guidelines (on our website) and don’t submit
genres we specifically say we do not work with.

Are you seeing any particular trends in commercial
women's fiction/romance at the moment?

We’ve been seeing a shift away from billionaires and bondage, and in
these troubling times readers are turning to sagas and feel-good commercial
women’s fiction, with escapist, aspirational settings like tea shops in
Cornwall. Seasonal books are a big trend, with the emphasis on summer and
Christmas. I also think we are seeing more novels about romance in later life: we’ve
recently sold one about a woman in her seventies starting over. I’ve heard this
referred to as ‘Gran Lit’, but I prefer to call it ‘the Judi Dench effect’.

What’s your favourite romance novel of all time?

No marks for originality, but my favourite of all time would have to be Pride and Prejudice. I first read it in
my early teens (well before the Colin Firth/wet shirt BBC adaptation), and it
has been my comfort read ever since. And where would romantic fiction be
without P&P? Here in Bath we have
just had the annual Jane Austen festival, which attracts Austen devotees from
all over the world who parade around the city in gorgeous Regency costumes. I’m
planning on dressing up myself next year.

Apart from your own authors, which book have you enjoyed
the most in the past twelve months, and why?

I re-read The Handmaid’s Tale
by Margaret Atwood after the TV serialisation, and got so much more out of it
than when I first read it. It seems more relevant than ever, and reminded me
that women in many parts of the world are still victims of misogyny and
biological determinism - and there is no guarantee that our own society will
never experience a backlash against feminism and the freedoms women take for
granted in a modern liberal secular democracy. One of those freedoms being
reading and writing romantic fiction, of course.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I enjoy amateur dramatics, and usually perform in two or three
productions a year. It’s fun, challenging and learning lines is very good for
the brain. I also enjoy swimming, walking, gardening, upcycling furniture and
visiting my family who are dotted around the world. Plus, I’ve recently started
learning Italian.

If you could describe your working-day in just
three words, what would they be?

Reading, editing, negotiating.

Thank you so much for taking the time to drop in, Sara, and for your thoughtful answers. It's been fascinating and a pleasure getting to know you.

If you've enjoyed Sara's interview, or have any questions or comments at all, please let us know. We'd love to hear from you!

About Helena

Helena Fairfax is a romance author and editor. Her latest release is a feel good romance called Felicity at the Cross Hotel, set in a hotel in the Lake District (the type of the escapist, aspirational setting Sara mentions!) You can find out more about Helena's books and her editing services on her website www.helenafairfax.com

If you would like to write for the RNA blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

Thanks for your comments. Yes, commercial women’s fiction very much includes romantic fiction, and the categories and contenders for the RoNAs demonstrate what a wide-ranging genre this is (and how hard to label). However, Category Romance would be considered a separate genre.

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Romantic Novelists' Association

We work to enhance and promote the various types of romantic and historical fiction, to encourage good writing in all its many varieties, to learn more about our craft and help readers enjoy it.

Romantic Fiction covers an enormous range, from short stories through category romance and much of women's fiction, to the classics. The nature of romantic fiction means that most of these novels are written and read by women. The RNA, however, boasts a number of very successful male authors amongst their membership.